Liquid and semisolid compositions containing detergents and other cleaning components used as pretreatments for the stained and soiled areas of clothing prior to laundering have been available in the marketplace for many years. Examples of liquid pretreatments are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,077,317 and 4,595,527. Examples of semisolid pretreatment sticks are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,842,762, 5,384,060 and 5,747,442. Such pretreatments, applied to stains prior to laundering, provide extra cleaning action to a stained area on the clothing when the treated clothing is subsequently laundered in a conventional manner. The extra cleaning action provided by the invented pretreatment sheet is intended to be similar or comparable to various pretreatment products currently available in the marketplace as exemplified by “SPRAY'n WASH Stain Stick” sold by Reckitt Benckiser, Inc., Parsippany, N.J. 07054, “SHOUT LAUNDRY STAIN REMOVER” sold by S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Racine, Wis. 53403 and “Zout Laundry Stain Remover” sold by The Dial Corporation, Scottsdale, Ariz. which are intended to treat stains from food, oil, grass, etc. prior to laundering. The skin and eye irritation properties of laundry pretreatments are well known and are clearly acknowledged on the package labels of the widely available “SPRAY'n WASH Stain Stick”, “SHOUT LAUNDRY STAIN REMOVER” and “Zout Laundry Stain Remover” pretreatment products mentioned above.
Prior art pretreatments are applied directly to stained clothing fabric by spraying liquid pretreatments or by rubbing paste or semisolid pretreatments in stick form onto the stained areas of the fabric. In the case of spray-applied liquid pretreatments, it is difficult to consistently spray an amount of liquid pretreatment just sufficient to saturate the stained areas because fabric types, depending on their thickness, weave and fiber composition (cotton, nylon, polyester, etc.) vary considerably in their ability to absorb liquids. Consequently, it is not unusual that excess liquid is sprayed onto the stain which forms pools, drips and runs of the liquid pretreatment that is not only wasteful but also increases the likelihood that the pretreatment liquid will contact and possibly irritate the user's skin during pretreatment application and when handling the pretreated clothing prior to laundering.
In the case of semisolid pretreatment sticks, the amount of pretreatment composition applied to the stained fabric will be variable because the amount of pressure applied during the application process naturally varies from person to person according to their physical strength and with their prior experience with the product. Sometimes too little pretreatment will be applied while at other times an excessive amount will be applied. As with liquid pretreatments, excess pretreatment is not only wasteful but also increases the likelihood that pretreatment will contact and possibly irritate the user's skin when handling the treated clothing prior to laundering. The present invention uses a pre-measured, non-wasteful amount of cleaning agent and, due to the inclusion of the water soluble/dispersible carrier layer, reduces the possibility of skin contact with the cleaning agent and resulting skin irritation.
Thus several advantages of the invention are to provide an easy-to-use laundry stain pretreatment sheet which provides a controlled, effective but non-wasteful amount of pretreatment cleaning composition to a stained area on clothing fabric while significantly reducing the potential for the pretreatment composition to contact the skin during pretreatment application and during manual handling of the treated clothing prior to laundering. Improvements to the invention are also described and provide for simpler and more convenient application of the pretreatment sheet to stained fabric by the user and also provides a simpler pretreatment sheet design which uses fewer physical components.